


Pitch Perfect one shots

by ezrajclarke



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Anything I can think of, Endgame Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell, Established Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell, Eventual Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Minor Stacie Conrad/Aubrey Posen, enjoy?, how do people write tags, music producer beca, random one shots, stacie and aubrey, stacie and aubrey cannon, will take prompts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-20 15:35:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17625071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ezrajclarke/pseuds/ezrajclarke
Summary: Pitch Perfect one shots from any timeline and most ships in the movies, though I have my own favorites that will be the majority of it, Bechloe and Staubrey.





	1. Together

Aubrey pulled up to the house she and Stacy shared. Once in the driveway, she shoved the car in park and took a deep breath. It had been a long day and she was gratefully looking forward to seeing her fiancée and snuggling into a good movie. Slowly, she threw her legs off the drivers side of her Jeep and grabbed her work bag. Finally, she strode into her house only to be greeted with the smell of dinner from the kitchen.

As she closed the door, Stacy Conrad strut her way out of the kitchen and happily ran to the door, “hey baby.” Stacy smiled with all of her teeth and stared Aubrey down.

Aubrey exhaustedly bared her teeth, almost too tired to pretend otherwise. She quickly dropped her bag on the floor and Stacy opened her arms to give her a hug. Aubrey lent down into her girlfriend and quickly nuzzled into the brunettes neck, “I’m so glad, I’m home. Today was just so long.”

Stacy pulled back and bit her lip, “okay okay, okay, I can’t wait any longer Brey. I got you something.” 

Aubrey smiled lightly as Stacy pulled her over to the couch and grabbed a little silver box from behind it, “That’s so sweet babe, but I’m so tired. Can we do it tomorrow?”

“Absolutely not! We have to do it right now.” Stacy insisted, patting her legs and putting the box in front of Aubrey.

Aubrey sighed and slouched her shoulders. She looked down at the box, “Okay. But after this we’re watching a movie.” 

Stacy playfully rolled her eyes, “Of course. Whatever you want.”

Aubrey smiled, and then looked down at the gift. Delicately, she undid the bow and opened up the box. She then pulled out the tissue paper and unwrapped the smaller package inside. As she did, she found it to be a pregnancy test with a little plus sign on the left side. Aubrey’s eyes fluttered and her posture shot straight back up. Her eyelids blinked widely and she looked up at Stacy, holding her breath, “I took three just in case.” She smiled, shyly. 

Aubrey swallowed hard, “this is.. is positive? I mean - it’s real?” Stacy slowly nodded, her eyes unblinking at her surprised girlfriend. Suddenly Aubrey’s eyes softened and she let out her breath. Her voice was a pitch higher, “I’m going to be a mom?” 

Stacy nodded excitedly and Aubrey could not stop smiling. “Yes baby,” Stacy hugged Aubrey so hard she knocked the box off the Blondes lap. Aubrey slowly wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and started to breath regularly, “I can’t believe this. Stacy this is amazing.” Aubrey let go of Stacy and put a hang on her Stomach, “I-I can’t believe this. I’m sorry I don’t even know what to say.”

Stacy looked between Aubrey’s eyes, “Your reaction says more than enough.” The brunette place her hands around Aubrey’s neck, “I love you baby.”

“I love you so much.” 

 


	2. Rings

It wasn’t long after the USO tour, followed by her opening tour for DJ Khaled, did Beca decide to move to Los Angeles and start her new career in the music industry. And not too long after that did her career blow out of proportion and end with her name not only in the stars, but on the front sign of her own recording studio. “In stars” did mean figuratively that is. Close friends knew well enough her name, but she did as much as she could to stay in the shadows. She’d rather stay behind a mixer in the studio and out of the spotlight. If Beca Mitchell could avoid the social and political limelight, she would. 

With the recording studio and that mindset, Beca did end up traveling a lot around the United States at very least, meeting with clients discretely and talking them into returning to Los Angeles with her to work on their latest album. Over the years she learned very quickly how to slip the press and stay undercover until she wanted to be seen or talked to - which wasn’t often.  That being said, her love life was just the same. Which is why almost nobody knew about her sexuality, or bisexuality, and why she had never dated anyone for the public eye. That didn’t mean she was ashamed of any partner she had, but instead that her and her partner got the privacy they needed to let their relationship become something more. 

That also meant nobody knew about her relationship with Chloe Beale, which started only months after the USO tour. The press didn’t need to know about her pining after the red head for years over their friendship or being too scared to say anything in fear of ruining everything they worked hard for. Not to mention that she had dated Jessie for so long and that she wasn’t ever good at opening up to anyone. No, not a single person needed to know about the boy Chloe had fallen for before the two had admitted her feelings or about Chloe always being backstage at every concert that Beca played at to introduce DJ Khaled. 

Chloe and Beca kept their relationship to themselves, along with their close friends, and were happy to do so all the way up and through their engagement. Through the many nights planning the wedding that became almost completely out of control do shere amount of family and friends both girls had invited. That was the hardest part of their relationship to keep to themselves and why they chose to take all of their guests off the coast of france to do it. And that being said, it was perfect.  _ Was. _

And now, years later, being the most talked about, most known recording artist who  **made** anyone who was  **anyone** big, That was Beca’s one regret. To her, Chloe was never at fault for leaving. It was Beca who could never be the one that Chloe needed her to be. She had never opened up the way Chloe begged her to. And that would be another reason Beca traveled so much. She told herself if she didn’t stop then she wouldn’t have to face it, or rather if she kept going then she wouldn’t have to look back. She saw the Bella’s in different parts of the country when she could, met with them for dinner and put up for their hotel when they were in Los Angeles. She didn’t have to ask for updates about Chloe’s life or where she was living now. Those were given to her willingly and with broken hearts. They told her often that Chloe still wore her wedding ring and that if they didn’t sign divorce papers, then the situation wasn’t finished. Beca often told them that she knew it was over and that there was nothing she could do. She often told herself that so she could breath and every time she started to feel like she could breath, she couldn’t.  Being on long and constant flights helped and didn’t help. Getting away from Los Angeles helped her relax, but hours on a plane caused her to bring up every thing all over again. As the plane touched down with a rough landing, She looked out to see the fog of New York - for just a few hours to meet and eat dinner with a client - she told herself to forget about it. 

Beca stepped off the plane, or more like stumbled, and was caught by her shuttle driver, his hand out for her taking. His calloused hands, pushed her weight back to her and gave her the balance she needed. She smiled kindly toward him and the old man tipped his hat back. The plane blew wind from the landing and Beca strapped another hand over her long blue coat to keep it shut. As she made it to the ground, she followed the man to his car and sat in the backseat. After exchanging pleasantries, she put on her beats and opened her laptop. Music burst into her ears and the became the only sound to the scenic background. 

Dinner was quick to come to their table and her client was overly eager to work with her, which was good, but Beca had always preferred more of a challenge and eagerness made her travel to New York City and the ten hours she would spend on the plane rather pointless. Except it wasn’t. Except finally after all of the traveling one thing and one thing only made the blues in her eyes open wider. Except no matter where she went and what she had been running from, maybe she wasn’t just running away but maybe she had been running toward. It was the exception. It was Chloe and it would always be Chloe, sitting just four tables across the same room in the same fancy restaurant, just one year since she had seen her last. 

Beca couldn’t help but stare and leave her client’s conversation. Beca then went to stand up and the hood she used to keep her face away from the public eye fell down to her shoulders. Cerulean eyes finally looked away from the date or friend or whoever she had brought with her and found Beca’s hopeless hopeful look, gazing back at her. That stare could last a lifetime as if the entire place had shut down and they were the only ones in the room - the sounds came to a complete halt. 

Then Chloe looks back down at her plate and up at the boy across from her, gleaming with excitement. She mumbled something under her breath to him and the sounds around them started to come back to Beca’s ears. Chloe and the boy stand and they start to leave. Beca’s eyes attached to the little black dress draped over Chloe’s skin and her jaw drops. Her throat runs dry. Chloe follows the man to the front door and Beca returns to her reality. She turns to leave, explaining something to the client behind her about having to cut this short and dashes after the redhead who had already left the building. 

Beca runs out to the half empty City streets and kicks herself when the man Chloe was with is calling for a taxi. “Chloe!” She hears herself call out and the redhead can hardly help turning toward the voice behind her. Chloe stops and her date leaves their sight. They’re alone in the normally crowded streets, they’re almost entirely alone for the first time in months and Beca can hardly breath. “I’m sorry,” is all she can start to say in between hard, sharp breaths.

Chloe swallows and closes her eyes, her arms draping her sides as if she’s preparing for the blow. Beca frantically analyzes the girl in front of her and staggers herself back. They are silent for too long and Chloe finally answers, “I know.” 

Beca doesn’t know what makes her think she can reach for Chloe again or maybe it’s because she wasn’t thinking about it at all. Her right hand opens up and pulls Chloe’s left toward her. Her fingers melt into the other Girl’s soft skin, but as she take a hold of them she realizes that the wedding ring that stained a tan line on Chloe’s left hand was missing. Beca looked down as if to insure that it was not on another finger, and almost immediately pulled her hand away. Chloe fumbles her hands together and looks down at Beca’s other hand, a small ring still encasing her finger. An engagement ring just above it, a diamond for the world to see. Protectively, Beca covers her left hand with her right and bites her lip. 

They stand there still and in silence, suddenly realizing the cold of winter as it breezes against their skin. Chloe breathes in Beca’s outfit, the way her jacket covers a red dress she most  likely didn’t pick out herself no matter how good it looked on her. Underneath her dress were silk black stockings that slid all way down to her heels. Her hair was straightened and beautiful and the only thing she picked out of the outfit had to have been the black beats wrapped around her neck. The scarf on top of it also couldn’t have been her decision. Beca can feel the moment slipping out of her hands, “Does that mean you’re on a -”

“Chloe?” Heels come back to Beca’s ears and they’re running down the sidewalk, smashing against the concrete. “Chloe, I’m so sorry, I’m late -” A blonde haired, familiar voice chimes in and Beca recognizes it as the famous Aubrey Posen, “I, uh, oh.” She lands between the girls and is stuck frozen. Then they are all silent, “Beca, hi.”

Beca swallows loudly and returns her gaze only to the redhead in front of her, “I um, I should go.” 

“Beca,” Aubrey started, but Beca put up her hand before she could say anything. 

Beca brushes by Chloe’s shoulder and stops short of walking away. Chloe puts her head up, Beca’s perfume hitting her in the face. “I screwed up, Chloe. I screwed up bad and I’d do anything to have you back. Please.” Before Chloe could turn around, Beca was down the street, getting in her shuttle. Left in Chloe’s hand was Beca’s business card with her personal cell phone written across and Chloe feared that Beca thought she’d lost the number. Finally, the moment was over and the world continued to spin. Chloe was back in New York City and Beca was off to her own town across country, wondering if she’d ever hear back. Beca spent her entire way home turning the wedding ring on her finger in silence. 


	3. Rings pt 2

Except Beca Mitchell didn’t return home that evening. She made it all the way to the plane from the shuttle and almost got on it, except she didn’t. Instead, she stared at the dark skyline and watched the plane propellor twirl and twist, practically swiping at the ground each time it kicked up wind. When she stopped, both the pilot and her driver watched her for more movement. “Mrs. Mitchell?” The driver questioned when her stillness lasted longer than either of the men expected. The ping of pain in her chest pulled the brunette from her trance and she looked over quizzically at the man, as if to ask a question without ever opening her mouth. The old man chuckled and gestured towards the rings wrapped around her finger. 

“I, uh.” Beca blinked slower than usual and bit her bottom lip. She had to raise her voice over the sound of the plane, “I’m sorry. I can’t go.”

Over that next hour, Beca would find herself barrage by fans in streets of New York City and eventually walking in a bar on twenty first street that she knew all too well when she lived in New York with Chloe and Amy. Inside, she found herself drinking until her lips were numb and downing whisky with a burn in her throat she hadn’t felt since her first year of college. She would receive a multitude of voicemails from her publicist about not only leaving a client alone in a fancy restaurant, but wondering where the hell she was anyway. In the meanwhile, Chloe and Aubrey would be walking down a street, drinking a bottle of wine between them. Mascara smeared down Chloe’s face. 

“I mean, who the hell does she think she is? Showing up like a fucking asshole in New York, out of freaking nowhere!”

“Chlo,”

“And leaving me with this like the balls in my court? I’m in charge of what happens next?”

“Chlo?”

“Like always, I have to make the decision on if I’m staying or leaving and she does nothing!”

“Chloe!” Aubrey practically screams and stops their walk down the sidewalk. Chloe stops and looks at her best friend, eyes sunken into her head and staring. The previous look she had for her date clearly fading into the late night and ruining what made her life look like it was put together. She was a wreck. “She is doing something.” Aubrey said, lowly.

“What?” Chloe’s eyebrows dented inward and she folded her arms as if Aubrey needed an explanation to prove her claim.

Aubrey thought for a moment before she spoke, remember tediously the difference between her and Stacy’s two best friends in the entire world. They were inexplicably different and above all too stubborn to notice ever what was right in front of them. The two never realized how hard it was for Stacy and Aubrey trying to see each of them individually when they broke up and how even harder it became to watch both of them break. She knows what Chloe and Beca each don’t know. She knows how many times the two were too prideful to ask how the other was doing and she knows over the past year how many each of them had cried to ended up at a bar, too drunk to keep their heads up. She knew how many crying phone calls she received from Chloe, just begging to regain any piece of normalcy back. She knew how many times her or Stacy went to pick Beca up from some bar because each and every bartender in Los Angeles knew her phone number and how to keep the outburst out of the press. Which was the other reason Aubrey had already texted Stacy to go looking for Beca at one of the many around New York. No, not one of those terrible and awful things that she saw her best friends go through made her think that Beca and Chloe were horrible for each other, because they weren’t.

They were duo to Stacy and Aubrey. An amazing, hard working duo, where in the right spot made the worst moments in life better. They were a power couple, but even the best of them had their flaws. Beca Mitchell was afraid of commitment and even Aubrey thought that was over when the wedding had been done with. No, it was probably all of the travel and talk about children that did them in. Chloe wanted a family and it was not that Beca didn’t want that too. It was that Beca was afraid of screwing up her kids in the same way she felt screwed up herself. Everyone in plain site could tell you that. But she didn’t handle it well. She hid it. She screwed it up by traveling around the world and avoiding spending the time talking about it - working up to it. Aubrey hated that she had seen them torn apart and she often wondered if she would ever see them together in the same room again. Until tonight. Which was the very reason Aubrey chose her words as carefully as she could. 

“All I’m saying is that the Beca Mitchell I know, wouldn’t have said anything if she wasn’t trying. She would’ve walked away. I don’t think she was putting the ball in your court, I think she was begging for another chance to make it right.” Aubrey said, rather confidently. Her phone went off in the meantime and she got a text back from Stacy. 

Stacy: Bar on Twenty first and Pine.

Chloe folded her arms over her jacket and looked down at her hand, “I wonder every time what I’m supposed to put down on every paper at work, Chloe Mitchell?” She throws up words into the cold, unforgiving air. Aubrey’s eyes tilt sympathetically and she wants to reach out - to comfort her best friend. Chloe laughs at herself in a prideful way, tears dripping down her cheeks. She rolls her eyes and says in a hardly audible voice, “She was looking for my ring, Bree. She was looking for it and I wasn’t wearing it.” Aubrey instinctively wraps and arm around Chloe as she huffs. 

When Stacy entered the bar, Beca Mitchell must’ve been on her seventh or maybe eighth shot. She was yelling at the bartender, or maybe herself about how much of an idiot she was. Stacy almost wishes Chloe could see this state of Beca, with crowds of people taking pictures of her and at least one taking a video. Her eyes stained with tears, her hair a tangled mess. Stacy drops her shoulders at the site and walks over to the bar behind her friend, pushing anyone taking photos away from the drunken girl. “Let me guess.” Beca mumbles to herself, sipping on her next drink, “Aubrey.” That’s all she has to say and Stacy doesn’t have to respond for Beca to know she’s right. 

“Well, we knew you wouldn’t be going home.” Stacy puts her things down on a bar stool and pulls out a bottle of water and make up wipe. She hands Beca the water and wipes her the black away from her eyes.

“Nope, I’m going to stick around and in the morning, I’ll get divorce papers.” Beca slaps her hand away and takes in the words she just spoke.

“Beca..”

Beca scratches the back of her neck and struggles to stand, leaning all of her weight over the bar. Then she slams her fist down and tears start again, “She wasn’t wearing it Stacy. She didn’t have her ring.” 

Stacy runs a hand over Beca’s back and hushes her, “It’s going to be alright Beca.”

“Are you freaking kidding me?” Beca looks at Stacy and sees the sympathy in her eyes. Stacy knows this would be her if she ever lost Aubrey in the first place. Beca begins to wobble across the small bar, back and forth, hardly staying upward. She refuses Stacy’s help when she offers a steady arm. “I’m fucking done Stacy. She’s everything and I screwed it up.”

In the meantime Aubrey and Chloe turned the corner of pine toward the same bar. Chloe continued to ramble on about what to do and what she’s supposed to do, “and if I call, what would I even say? Hey how are you? What the hell is that?” Aubrey nods on as Chloe talks and leads her to the bar, unknowing how her crazy plan was going to end up. “She gave me her fucking business card Bree! What the hell am I, a client?”

Beca put her hand on every bar stool as she paced and the room around her was spinning, “I gave her my fucking business card Stace! Who the hell gives someone their business card! And to their fucking wife!” Chloe and Aubrey walk in the bar as Beca speaks and Chloe’s eyes grow out of her head. Chloe lets out a frustrated growl at both Aubrey and toward Beca and then opens her mouth to speak. Only, before she does, Aubrey puts a finger to her mouth and shuts the door quietly behind them. Aubrey whispers to Chloe just to watch. “I’m a fucking idiot, Stacy. I screwed it all up - because why? I can’t keep my shit together? I can’t let my fucked up childhood stay where it belongs? I had the girl of my dreams in my arms and I let her leave because who the fuck knows why! I ruined it. And the worst part is that everything I think I can breath Stacy,” Her voice is influenced by something caught in her throat, “I fucking can’t. I could’ve been everything she needed and what did I do? I screwed her over. I hurt her. And on top of that I ruined her night - her date - her whoever the hell she was with, I can’t even let her be happy!” She settled her breath and leaned on a chair, “I don’t even know what I’m doing here,” Tears welled up in Beca’s eyes again and as she stared at Stacy and Stacy stared at Chloe, who had her own tears forming. “All I know is living in L.A, Being a DJ, nothing is even worth it. I can’t do anything and I can’t function. I go home to a shitty apartment that I’m renting out - No, I can’t even stay in our house anymore - and I’m just - I’m so alone and I -” 

In that moment, Beca turned around and saw Chloe standing in the doorway, mascara running down her face which was still wet with tears. Beca studders, “I’m just so,” She lets out an exacerbated breath, “so sorry.”

Then the bar was completely silent. Beca swallowed hard and Chloe looked everywhere else as if realizing something she might not have thought of before. And then she didn’t say a word, but walked over the Beca, opening her arms and pulled her into a hug. Beca was surprised and exhausted and all she could do was nuzzle her face into Chloe’s neck and watch Aubrey smile from the doorway. Chloe cleared her throat and whispered into Beca’s ear, “I’m sorry too.”

“I love you.” Beca whispered, over and over in Chloe’s ear, “I love you.”

Chloe pulled away and left her hands on her shoulder,  “I think we need to talk, but I love you too.”

Beca took in sharp breaths between words, “I’ll do anything.”

Chloe put a hand on Beca’s face and couldn’t help but lean into her and let their lips touch. “We can talk later, but let’s go home.”


	4. Bound

On the day any given person turned eighteen, they were mature enough to acquire what was referred to as, a bond. This bond is what some considered to be a soulmate bond and others considered to be life’s cruel joke. When a bond occurred between two people, it would mean that their feelings were synced to one another’s emotions and they were therefore bound to the one they loved. Within the bond, the lovers could not only understand the others feelings, but intently feel them - especially with the most intense ones. It was incredibly rarely reported seeing visions of their lovers conversations and watching the world from their point of view, understanding the other so thoroughly from these moments.

But this worked many more ways than one. More often than not, the bond would come through one but not the other. This meaning that when one person fell in love with the other, they would be bound to that person, even if the other person did not return their feelings and therefore the bond would only be one way. 

Many high school couples would break up over this exact moment. Or the moment opposite where neither of them had the same feelings to be bound in the first place. Some people tried to ignore them and act like it didn’t matter in the first place. Other believed wholeheartedly that you could only bind yourself to one person and that it was a sign of soulmates. And as for Chloe Beale? She was just one of those people. 

And whether it was because she had the thought drilled into her head that she had a soulmate or because it just never felt right, Chloe Beale didn’t develop a bond for any one person when she turned eighteen. She also didn’t develop a bond for years after that moment. As a matter of fact, she had almost forgot about the vague idea by her senior year of college when, finally, she did. And she hardly knew when it happened either. Sometime between the day Beca Mitchell walked into her life, through the day that Beca had almost walked out of her life entirely.

Although, if she did notice it at all, it was small. Maybe because she was brooding more often than usual. She also had more understanding for Beca’s opinion so many times during practices that even Aubrey was starting to notice something weird going on. 

The she finally did notice it, the Bella’s had just been kicked out of the national competition for Beca’s kind of outburst of Bulletproof in the middle of the third set. It was when Aubrey was screaming at Beca for the way she behaved and Beca running out the door that it happened. Chloe could feel Beca’s emotions so intently that she couldn’t ignore it. Beca was hurt, outraged, and overall done with trying so hard just to be let down. And Chloe could feel it. She could feel the way Beca’s fingernails were stabbing into the palm of her hand.

And all of a sudden she was there. Chloe was inside of Beca’s mind, watching from her perspective, and strutting down the hall away from the competition hall. The vision didnt last long, but it was clear and vivid. She could hear Beca’s thoughts, as the brunette cursed Aubrey’s name and Chloe could feel her heart breaking. 

And then she was back inside of her own mind, sitting in a chair she hadn’t been sitting in before the vision started and she was seething. Aubrey was by her side with a wet wash cloth on her forehead, which made Chloe question how long the vision had actually been. “Chloe?” Aubrey asked her when her breathing had finally calmed down. 

“I uh, I had one.” Chloe practically coughed out the words, her voice so hoarse. 

 

“What are you talking about? Are you alright? You just collapsed. Can someone call 911?” Aubrey called, still quite frantic.

Chloe pushed her away when she heard about emergency services, “No Bree, I’m okay. I, uh. I had a vision.”

Aubrey cocked an eyebrow, “you did?”

At first, Chloe denied knowing who the vision was about and Aubrey let it slide. She said the vision was too quick. Aubrey would soon figure it out who it was and leave Chloe be to understand it herself. But in the same aspect, Aubrey had her own feelings for another brunette in the group to worry about. 

The amount of times Chloe spent trying to figure out how to tell Beca was practically infinite. The same goes for the amount of times she tried to figure out if Beca did or would ever return her feelings. At first it just seemed like a bad time after what happened in nationals, then it just seemed too stressful when they were getting ready for the competition. Then it just felt like too late. 

Over the years, the feelings grew and only became more tangible. Chloe went from noticing only the most outrageous emotions coming off her friend, to feeling even the smallest changes in her behavior. When Aubrey graduated and moved on from Bardon, the feelings grew even stronger and Chloe found herself slipping into Beca’s Head more often then she even felt comfortable for Beca’s privacy. When she was making mixes and when she was all alone and much more often than just large emotions. Chloe tried to avoid it if she could, but it often took her when she least expected it. In the middle of class, walking across campus, and as each one hit she learned to brace herself when they came. 

Beca and Chloe became best friends over the year and when they moved into the house together, Beca asked Chloe to be her roommate. Due to the huge secret Chloe was keeping from her, Chloe respectively declined. Beca wasn’t too hurt about it, though she had her suspicions. And Chloe had kept the secret so long it didn’t feel real. She enjoyed keeping her visions to herself and she liked getting close to Beca. And instead of this wonderful thing that these feelings gave Chloe, they also felt like a curse. A secret she’d be dying over because Beca hadn’t returned the feelings and Chloe never knew how to say what she felt herself. Or what if Beca did return the feelings and didn’t know how to say it either. 

Chloe made an effort when it came time to. They were in the tent alone and Beca was irritated, but when was she ever not irritated. And alone being the operative word, because a dozen sleeping Bella’s were nearby. So she said something small, it was a casual joke about experiment, just to find out if Beca had anything to say in return and Beca’s response was what it should be to joke back to a friend, nothing more for Chloe to analyze and that was it.

By this point Chloe was getting emotional about it and Aubrey could tell. Here, years later, Aubrey had found her bond belonged to Stacy and they had been dating ever since, even through the long distance. Aubrey felt bad for Chloe and Chloe no longer wanted to talk about soulmates or what the bond felt like. She didn’t want to hear about Aubrey telling her how weird it looks when she goes into the bond, the way Chloe’s pupils turned from blue to a yellow resemblance of a wolf’s eyes. She just, shut down.

Which is probably part of what caused her and Beca’s huge fight at Aubrey’s campground. Part did have to do with Beca keeping her internship from Chloe, but the majority of it was Chloe’s fear of what was going to happen to them. About whether or not soulmates did exist or if Beca really was her one and only match. About whether Beca could feel how Chloe felt and how much she only wished that Beca did understand. It was a stupid one way bond according it Chloe and she would hate it forever. Even now, five years after the day she met Beca and less since she realized the bond, she wondered how it would play out. Would she ever feel this bond for anyone else? Or was she bound to Beca forever? Could she be free of this? 

That was the year Chloe stopped believing in soulmates. Or that the bond meant that her and Beca were soulmates. Sort of. The hope never went away, but Chloe told herself she wouldn’t fall trap to it anymore. So she didn’t. She let her and Beca’s friendship stay the same and grow into a place where they pilent get closer - quite literally by sharing a bed in Brooklyn - and she let it go when she could. Or maybe she let the result be that she would always be in love with Beca Mitchell and that it was just always going to be a bond that went one single, lonely way. 

It hurts the most when Beca did something sweet, like let Chloe hug her tight or hold her when she cried about how shitty her job at the recording studio was. It hurt the worst when she knew Beca was having a bad idea but didn’t know how to bring it up without Beca wondering how she even knew about it. 

It hurt the worst when Beca finally brought up what the bond might feel like and Chloe had to pretend she didn’t have a clue.

Beca was so closed off to everyone around her, she was oblivious t any kind of love. I’m her own way, that made her okay with not having a soulmate. Sort of. She didn’t have a problem, because she didn’t have one. No one interested her, no one peeked her interest, and it would take a hard slap in the face for Beca to realize that she was in love with anyone. Which is exactly what she got. 

It finally happened after the USO tour, the day Chloe had decided she couldn’t wait for Beca to return her feelings forever. When Beca had been booked for an entire tour of her own - opening up for DJ Khaled.  She had followed Chloe outside of the auditorium in hopes of asking the ginger to go with her on the tour and come back before she started vet school in the fall. 

But it happened. All of a sudden, leaning on the wall of the auditorium, Beca was no longer in side of her own head. She was in Chloe’s, watching from her perspective, only a few feet away from Beca herself. And her feelings were incredibly mixed that Beca couldn’t even understand what was going on at all. She was so incredibly sad and reluctant. She was about to do something that she wasn’t sure whether she would regret. And in that moment, Chloe kissed Chicago on the lips and melted into the softness. Beca felt the way their lips touched and all of a sudden she was back in her own mind, watching them kiss. From the side lines.

“Beca?” Aubrey asked, staring blankly at her. “Did you just have a..? Your eyes, they were glowing.” 

Beca could hardly breath and the room was spinning. She found a way to nod to Aubrey, still holding onto the column behind her. “Do you know who?” Aubrey asked and Beca couldn’t respond.

She was still catching her breath, her hands falling onto her knees. She didn’t speak, she just looked up at Chloe and Chicago, kissing in front of them. Aubrey looked between them and held her breath, wondering if she should mess with the fates, “oh.” 

This went on and Beca herself became all too aware of the way Chloe often felt. They split ways. Beca went on her tour and for a while, Chloe stayed with Chicago. Since the first one, Beca found herself having visions often. They were usually ones where Chloe was upset and alone and Beca regretted not asking Chloe to join her on the tour.

Little did Beca know, Chloe was at every single one of Beca’s shows. The rush of endorphins and rush of adrenaline caused Chloe to have visions in Beca’s Head. Chloe usually got to see Beca walk into the set and song or two if she could. 

Finally, at the end of the tour and the end of the summer, they were both returning to the apartment they shared with Amy in Brooklyn. But it was different. They were arriving there to move everything out, to go their separate ways. 

Beca’s heart stopped when she saw Chloe pull up in a taxi in the drive way, luggage in hand. The same happened when Chloe turned to see her standing on the porch of their little place together. Time stopped and they just stared at one another as if a lifetime had passed in just the few months they had been pulled apart. Chloe walked up to the porch in silence and then quietly noted, “Beca, hi.”

Beca spoke like she was learning a new language, “Chloe I-“ Words she wanted to say were overflowing in her head and stopping at her mouth.

Chloe smiled, “I missed you too.” 

Then, Chloe felt the same feeling she knew all too well of her heart breaking. Her eyes twisted into the color of a Wolf’s. She was suddenly watching herself through Beca’s perspective, her own eyes yellow as the sun. Chloe’s body started to fall and she could feel Beca’s feelings welling up to the surface, a welt growing in her chest. Chloe watched her body falling, until Beca reached out and caught her. 

Then Chloe came back to her own body, hardly breathing in Beca’s arms. “Chlo?” Beca asked, her eyes growing in concern. “Did you just?”

Chloe pulled herself back to reality, suddenly all to aware of how close she was to Beca. Chloe coughed and couldn’t catch her breath, the vision taking so much out of her. “Okay, here.” Beca walked her inside and onto the couch, never once leaving her side. “Are you okay?” 

Chloe cleared her throat and sighed, “Yeah, I think so.” 

Moments went by in silence and the way Chloe was laying on the couch, she couldn’t help putting weight on the girl she’d fallen for so many times over. Beca leaned her elbows on her knees, her hands suddenly shaking. “Was that..?” Beca couldn’t bring herself to ask.

Chloe nodded, “It was.”

Beca nodded and watched as Chloe sat up next to her, “Do you want to tell me about it?” She asked, afraid of the answer she would receive.

Chloe took a deep breath, ”Beca, I’ve been keeping a secret from you for so long and I..” Chloe swallowed, hard. 

“You don’t have to say it.” Beca responded, taking Chloe by full surprise.

“Beca..I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” Chloe couldn’t help but shake as well, feeling full force the emotions Beca was forcing on her. They were both feeling it. Heartache. The throbbing in their chest that was still beating with force and speed. 

“What? You don’t have anything to be sorry about. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you - I meant to. But you are with him and I understand. You feel his emotions and he feels yours, you’re-“ Soulmates was the word Beca tried to say, but she choked under Chloe’s gaze. 

Chloe furrowed her brow, “What? No, you’re my soulmate.” Chloe let the words flow out of her finally, so many years later and it came as if it was easy to say - but it was accidental. And as soon as she heard the words come out of her mouth her heart skipped a beat. Beca’s eyes lit up and Chloe tried to decipher the brunettes emotions, was it excitement or was that chloe’s heart beating in her ear? The redhead’s emotions were so loud she hadn’t a clue what was real. 

“How long?” Beca choked out, as if trying to hide her true feelings about it, as Chloe had expected she would if she didn’t return them.

Chloe looked down at her feet, feeling dizzy. She stared around the room, “I had my first vision when you walked out of nationals your first year. I watched you storm out.” Beca’s eyes twisted with the realization that her best friend had been keeping this a secret for almost as long as they had known each other, “They came through on and off, when you had strong emotions I had guessed..” Chloe started to ramble, as if she could keep Beca’s response at bay, “After awhile, I could do it on my own. If I wanted to know where you were or if you were alright. If I focused enough, I could see it.”

“And you didn’t say anything?” Was Beca’s only response. 

“I guess I just..” Chloe tried to think before she rambled on more, “I thought that if you were bond too, then maybe it would happen on its own. And if I anything I didn’t want to ruin..” her voice fell to a whisper, “I didn’t want to lose you.” 

 

Beca took a moment to gather herself. Then bent onto her knees in front of Chloe, falling between the redhead’s knees. In each of her hands, she took Chloe’s. Chloe looked down at the Brunette and into the blue eyes that shined towards her. “Chlo..” Beca looked over the awe struck girl before her, her best friend, “I am so sorry.” 

Chloe Bent an eyebrow once again at Beca’s words, “what? For what?”

“I’m so sorry that you’ve been waiting so long for me and that I’ve been so oblivious to your feelings,” Beca stated the facts and Chloe looked away in fear of what Beca would say. Beca in turn took one hand from Chloe’s, and placed it on her cheek, “Chloe Beale, I am in love with you. With every fiber of my soul and I am so sorry that it took me so long, I am so sorry for making you wait.”

Chloe’s head spun and array of emotions forming in her eyes, “what?” 

“My visions.. they didn’t start until after the USO tour. I guess you could call it jealousy, but when you kissed Chicago, I could see It from your eyes and it was my first vision.” Beca looked down, almost disgraced by the memory, “I can’t imagine how long you have endured yours and God how many times have I made you feel so terrible? I just can’t imagine Chloe. I can’t imagine that you could still love someone who put you through -“ Beca didn’t finish her sentence before Chloe’s lips were touching hers - hesitating at first.

They’re lips touched and it was soft and all of a sudden it was an out of body experience of emotions neither of them had ever possible understood. Their eyes glowed different colors between them and there’s a feeling in their stomachs that was unimaginable. It was indescribable. It was perfection. Neither of them ever wanted to part and it was only when they had to break that they finally could breath but coming up for free air was like breaking away from perfection. They were immersed in a feeling so intense that it could never be better in any other life time or any other feeling they had ever understood. It was unimaginable. 

When it ended, they looked one another in the eyes, foreheads resting on one another, finally understanding what it was like to have feelings returned and real life didn’t feel like anything they’d ever imagined. 

“Wow.” Beca washed the word under her breath. 

Chloe silently agreed with a small nod of the head. “Yeah, wow.” 

And all of a sudden it was worth the wait. Worth every second and every moment feeling Beca’s emotions. Worth every vision that broke her heart and every feeling that brought wings to her soul. It was just that simple - Beca Mitchell was her soulmate, but can’t be ever expected for anyone to fall in love at the same moment. Soulmates couldn’t possibly be different - and in this moment Chloe knew it was worth every moment, including the regrettable relationship she had with the boy at sea. This was it. Her destiny and she was so glad for the way it turned out. How could one possibly know that their love was returned the way they felt? Only when you feel it too. 


	5. Soulmark

Beca’s name appears one day, tender as a new tattoo, just beneath Chloe’s collarbone, somewhere between singing in the shower and seeing Beca Mitchell at auditions. It’s stark and bold against the pale of her skin, a star like a signature with a large B followed by looping letters of e, c, and a. Chloe always wondered how she would feel when one did appear on her skin and right now it feels like she tripped into another universe. 

  
She knows that it shouldn’t mean what she wants it to mean. She should listen to everyone else and say they aren’t much of anything, just another societal pressure. The names come and go as they please. Nobody likes to talk about whether they are or aren’t the mark of soulmates. No one likes to talk about the ones that don’t work out, but Chloe knows that it has happened before. As she rubs lotion over it like aftercare of a fresh wound, she thinks about how her brother’s fiancee didn’t make it 

to their wedding because of a car crash on her way home from work. Chloe didn’t learn until she was older that the mark went with her and she wonders if her brother will ever recover from it.   
She puts on an oversized T-shirt over it and checks every so often to make sure it’s still there. She can’t help but smile every time she looks at it. Still, she tries to convince herself that the appearance of the mark can’t and won’t change anything in her life. She thinks about telling Aubrey, but Aubrey didn’t like Beca and Chloe really hadn’t had a chance to get to know her. Telling Beca seems like a huge step for someone she had just met too. She had already made enough of an impression by barging in on her shower and telling her they were soulmates seemed to go too far. Especially when she didn’t know how Beca would feel about the marks and what they meant. As Aubrey put it, Beca was as alternative as they came. 

She decides to keep it to herself, that’s it’s intimate for her.  
***  
  
“ _Soulmate”_ is an entire section in Barden’s library and it’s own genre on Netflix. Chloe reads or watches some of it in her dorm when she gets time alone, but when Beca says that Soulmates are just something one scientist said the marks mean and that nobody knows if that’s true, Chloe stops reading them. She isn’t for sure that Beca doesn’t have a mark and she is starting to wonder if Beca did and just decided it meant nothing. Aubrey says she only says that they don’t mean anything because she doesn’t have a mark. Still, every practice Beca and Chloe get closer. In her dorm, Beca showed Chloe some of her mixes and Chloe wonders whether she’s having feelings or falling for the letters embroidered on her skin. She had never had a relationship with a girl before, not that she had ever been against it. Beca was gorgeous and Chloe knew that even before they were in the shower together. Chloe has stopped seeing Tom the day she found the mark. He asked if she had gotten one and she told him it just wasn’t working out. Beca says that the marks only mean something if you let them and Chloe keeps to herself for the rest of practice. 

Chloe decides the minute she sees Beca and Jesse on the quad together that Beca doesn’t have a mark, or that it feels better if Chloe thinks she doesn’t.   
***  
By nationals, Chloe and Beca are close and they only get closer over the years. So close, that Chloe can’t bring herself to graduate from college so she fails one class a few times to stick around Barden - around Beca. At first, Chloe wasn’t telling Beca because she hardly knew the girl and now it feels like she’s spent so much time not telling her, it’s a big secret. A secret she’s still kept from Aubrey. Beca asks her to share a room when they move into the big house together and Chloe is hesitant over it. When she doesn’t respond immediately, Aubrey jumps in about the captain deserving her own room. Beca takes that at its surface level and asks Amy to share a room instead. It’s not a perfect fit, but Amy brings Beca out of her shell more and more and Chloe starts to believe it's for the best. 

When Aubrey graduates, Beca and Chloe become co-captains. Luckily, Beca stays in a room with Amy and instead, Lilly moves in and out of the room her, Jessica, and Ashley were sharing. When Emily moves in, she moves in with Lilly. The Bellas move from calling Beca and Chloe co-captains to co-parents and the joke goes on for forever. The name Bechloe comes from Amy of course and every time she least expects it, the name comes about. Like when Chloe asks if anyone had seen Beca and all of a sudden they’re all telling her about how she’s the one who would know. It’s endearing but Chloe feels her heart break a little each time. 

Chloe would deny it if anyone had asked, but in their years together, Chloe couldn’t help herself from falling for the brunette. Beca was funny and talented, they both loved music and they already had this weird kind of family of their own. If Chloe was being honest and as much as she would deny it, she saw everything she’s ever wanted in Beca, but it’s been years by now. By now, Chloe had accepted that Beca might not ever have her mark. The secret has been eating her alive because everyone knows that Beca is her best friend. How could she keep this from her?   
Chloe thinks that until they are in a campsite and Beca is practically yelling at her over an internship for a legit recording studio she’s had all semester. Chloe realizes than that Beca at least has kept secrets from her too, even if Chloe isn’t for sure why. Seeing how upset Chloe was over the fight and hearing Fat Amy regard to them as Bechloe, Aubrey pulled her aside after the girls get Beca down from a bear trap.

  
“Alright, where is it?” She crosses her arms and cocks an eyebrow, “Where’s your mark?” Chloe thinks Aubrey knows because by now Aubrey has a mark of her own and can spot the mindset that comes with it. Aubrey and Stacy have been dating since Aubrey graduated, though they never really told anyone so proudly that they were. They refused to become another “soulmate” couple. It was something they kept to themselves. Well, themselves and Chloe. Aubrey seemed already offended that Chloe hasn’t shown her. Chloe figured it was only a matter of time.

  
“I don’t know what you’re talking-“ 

  
“It’s Beca isn’t it?” Her words are softer, kinder. She’s being more sympathetic to the cause, “How long?” 

  
Chloe gulps and wipes the makeup hiding her mark from her collarbone. There the mark is loud and proud, still as prominent and strong as ever. And Aubrey is staring at the dark pen markings. The way the strokes were the exact replica of Beca’s signature. The lines were thick and dark. Chloe remembers tracing it the first night and thinking about how all of her scientists insisted that the darker and bolder the lines, the deeper the connection.  “After auditions.” She practically whispers as the sun sets behind her. Then, they hear footsteps from behind them. Of course, it’s Beca. 

“Hey, guys, we’re going to start a fi-” She starts and stops when she notices that Chloe and Aubrey are staring at her with eyes wide. She cocks an eyebrow and Chloe wonders if she notices the way Chloe is pushing her tank top too far over her chest, “Is everything alright?” 

Aubrey looks between the two of them and Chloe can see the confirmation in her eyes, “No, it’s fine, go start the fire we’ll be there in a minute.” When Beca leaves, Chloe has a hard time looking Aubrey in the eye. Aubrey’s eyebrows go from raised to worried, “You haven’t told her?”

  
Chloe snaps a branch under her sneaker, “She’s with Jesse.”

  
“Because she doesn’t know.”

  
“Bree she doesn’t care.” Chloe’s voice is hoarse and pleading. She’s nearing tears in her eyes. 

  
“You can’t keep this from her forever.” Aubrey’s voice is the thought that Chloe thinks about every night lying in bed, wondering what Beca will ever do if she finds out. “You only get one Mark.” Her brother’s fiancee flashes before her eyes.

  
Chloe’s voice is quiet, “Just because I have hers, doesn’t mean she has mine.” As much as Chloe wishes she did.

  
That night Chloe, lost in a state of unsure tells Beca about her one regret - something about experimenting in college - even if it’s not quite what she means.  Beca takes it as a joke.   
***  
Chloe starts to try and get over Beca around the same time she starts applying to vet schools. She assumes if she gets accepted anywhere else in the United States then maybe she’ll finally move out of their studio in New York. Since they graduated college, it only got harder for Chloe. Her, Beca, and Amy moved into that small apartment where the two had to share a bed. Chloe got used to buying clothes that covered the mark on her skin and had mini panic attacks when Beca made jokes about showering together to save water. Chloe fears the day Beca walks in and sees her mark every day. 

When Beca gets a job at a recording studio soon after and Chloe and Amy get the first album she produced signed by her in their own way of supporting her. They tell her it’s for when she’s famous and Beca shrugs them off. Not soon after Amy finds out about Chloe’s mark when Chloe decides to compare Beca’s signature on the CD to the one on her skin. It takes the entire day for Chloe to convince Amy not to say anything at all and Amy gets on her any time they are alone to tell her. Chloe gets makeup to cover up the tattoo for a summer beach party and Amy doesn’t let it go the entire time. Amy asks if she’ll ever get in the water and Beca stands up for her unknowingly. 

 

Then there’s Emily’s show with the new Bella's and Beca quits her job and the sudden USO tour that gets Chloe flustered all over again. Aubrey and Amy insist that Beca and Chloe share the last bed in the hotel rooms because they’re so used to it. She realizes when Beca and her share the only bed left that there’s a possibility of her life where she’s not sharing a bed with Beca, which seems impossible. Especially when she’s pushing Beca out of the way and grabbing her boobs in the process. Especially when she can’t seem to let go until Aubrey is asking what they’re doing. Beca doesn’t ask her questions later, but Chloe almost wishes she would.

  
And then there’s Chicago. Who, in all honesty, could help her get over Beca. Or maybe stop thinking about her all of the time. He’s sweet, funny, a man in uniform. Everything she thought she wanted before she had a name tattooed on her skin. He makes her smile, but he also makes her feel like she’s cheating on Beca. Then again, everyone does. And Chloe wants to be happy for Beca when she gets her dream come true to go on tour with DJ Khaled. She really does. And she’s so proud that Beca would’ve given it all up for the Bellas if they didn’t approve. But the lingering feeling in her stomach doesn’t allow her to be happy about any of it because now she knows they’re coming to crossroads and her last chance to tell Beca the truth before they’re apart.

  
The night Beca sings freedom, Chloe is beyond overwhelmed and it all felt hopeless at this point. She thinks that she should’ve told Beca so many years ago when they became friends for the first time. She can’t help crying when Beca invited the Bellas to sing on stage with her again. She can’t help the fear in her stomach when she feels like this is the last time that her family will be together and that this long road has come to an end. All of the feelings bubble to the surface afterward and wanting to let go of it all, she kisses Chicago. And no she doesn’t know that Beca’s watching. She doesn’t see the look of disapproval in Beca’s eyes or the shake of her head or her arms folded over. All she knows is that as soon as it’s over, she’s alone with Chicago and when he asks to go get food sometime, she tells him that she shouldn’t have even kissed him and that she’s sorry. Then she runs back to their room and she’s crying all over again.

But it’s there. So many years later, when she’s just stopped herself from crying, where she’s changing clothes into something a little more comfortable, that it happens. 

“Hey Chlo, I wanted to talk to you about someth-” Beca stops dead in her tracks, the heavy hotel door closing behind her. Chloe has a shirt over her forearms, but not yet over her head. Chloe stops. All of her fears are realized at once when Beca’s eyes are stuck and glued to the gingers collarbone. Chloe’s eyes are wide as ever, blue as ever, staring right back at the brunette at the door. 

“Becs…” Chloe can hardly choke out the words and Beca takes a few steps closer, her eyes not moving from her own signature. Chloe all of a sudden feels like she wants to cover it up and conserve the privacy and intimacy she had with it. She feels vulnerable.

Beca, suddenly inches away from her, puts a hand up to her collarbone and runs her fingers over the letters, feeling the way they raised over Chloe’s skin. She looks up at her then and cocks an eyebrow, “How long have you had that?” 

Chloe wishes she could lie now, “Auditions.”

“I, uh,” Beca clears her throat and looks down at the floor. “I’m sorry.” Beca is nearly sobbing and Chloe isn’t sure she’s ever seen Beca cry. Chloe drops her shirt down to her wrists and her hands are suddenly shaking. But than, Beca slides the black wristband on her arm. It’s right there. Just on her lower bicep and just above her inner elbow. She slides down the black wristband iis a black cursive tattoo with Chloe’s name in its swirls. Chloe practically chokes in surprise. It’s an exact replica of the signature she had been practicing since she was five. Beautiful swirls, “I’m sorry I’ve only had mine since we moved into the brooklyn apartment. The first night we slept in that bed I realized..” Beca swallows, never being able to express her emotions and Chloe takes the opportunity. She can’t wait any more.

Chloe presses her lips, hard against Beca and nearly knocks the wind out of her. They kiss and in the moment. Beca trips backwards. They fall onto the bed and Chloe doesn’t miss a beat. She kisses Beca and Beca kisses her back, “I’m so sorry I made you wait for so long..” Beca whispers, out of breath.

“You’re worth the wait of a lifetime.” 

 


	6. Love Stinks

It was the first night Beca, Chloe, and Amy spent at their apartment in New York. They had packed what they could fit as best they could when moving from the vastness of the Bella house to a studio apartment. There were still boxes piled to the ceiling and coat racks taking up space, but they had made progress. Beca had suggested they get a small storage unit outside of the city and put what they could in there. The worst part was being the captains, Chloe and Beca had pitched in on most of the items in the Bella house. They had piles of mugs, two toasters, an extra microwave and everything else they didn’t need currently, but could in the future. By the end of unpacking, the girls were tired as all hell, but too excited to rest because they were all finally in the big apple. Beca had her first internship with a legit recording studio next week and she was beyond herself for it, not to mention that everyone was excited for her. Chloe had her own internship at an animal hospital down the street and well, Amy was being Amy. Regardless, they all had everything they had been hoping for coming to them and who could sleep when that was happening? 

  
So, instead of heading to bed, they hit the streets. Jesse and some of the girls from Barden who had helped them move came with and they ended up in the closest club with a DJ and happy hour. Within an hour of shots, the girls were too drunk to remember their tired muscles. They were singing and dancing and while the DJ was subpar compared to Beca, they were having a blast. Jesse and Beca had danced several times together and his eyes were for no one but her. He’d always been the perfect boyfriend after all. He was kind, caring, sweet, and supportive of everything she dreamt of. The only problem was that as much as Beca wanted to be with this sweet, caring, all too perfect boy, he just wasn’t who she wanted. And she tried. She desperately tried and for a while in their relationship it had lasted, but since the end of college, Jesse had been talking about marriage and Beca was going along with something that just felt too typical. It felt like the natural progression of a relationship, but one she had never truly wanted. She felt like she was doing it out of obligation instead of love. She tried to convince herself was true love. Jesse, on the other hand, was head over heels for her and with every dance and every anniversary, it only rang truer. He was a good guy, really, and he thought he had everything planned out. He figured he and Beca would get married, eventually move to LA, he could write scripts and she could produce music, they were a power couple. That is, all the way up until they were dancing at this club together and he realized that Beca wouldn’t stop staring at Chloe. 

  
He almost confronted her the first time he saw it, but he didn’t. The music was loud, he was drunk, and for a minute he didn’t want to believe it was true. But the second time he caught her staring was from afar. He was coming back from the bathroom and Beca had gone back to the bar to grab another drink. She was leaning against the bar, yelling to the barkeep, and as she was waiting for him to come back, her eyes drifted over to Chloe. Her redheaded best friend was dancing with a random guy of her choice, eyes locked, and moving her hips in slow motion. He had his hands over her hips and he looked like he wanted to devour her. When Jesse looked back at Beca, it wasn’t just a sense of lust that he saw in her eyes, but it looked like more. In fact, it looked like she was at the same time disgusted and another feeling he couldn’t quite put. Then his mind started to wonder, as Beca downed her entire drink in one gulp, if this really was something more. 

  
And all of a sudden he was thinking of years into their relationship - the way Beca had been afraid to talk to Chloe in situations, the way Beca and Chloe had always been closer than any of the Bellas, the way Beca and Chloe were sharing a bed in their new apartment. Anger filled in his stomach, but it was more than that. Deep down, he knew that his relationship with Beca was lesser than what he wanted. He wanted passion and sex and absolute love. Beca could never give that to him. She was too closed off and she had too many barriers that she wouldn’t put down for him. In other words, She had barriers that she hadn’t let down for anyone but her best friend. For Chloe. Chloe had always been the touching, loving type of person. She was nearly Beca’s opposite, but they worked better together than he had ever seen a partnership work. Chloe was the only one Beca didn’t flinch when they were physically close. Then, all at once in Jesse’s drunken mind, it clicked. The other feeling on Beca’s face was heartbreak. Beca was in love with Chloe Beale and Jesse wasn’t even sure if Beca knew it.   
Of course, in such a wasted state, he couldn’t handle it well. He was still, regardless of the revelation, mad. Which is why as soon as it his him, he approached Beca, grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her out of the downstairs club and up to the cold fresh air of winter air in New York City. His breath came out in smoke when he spoke over her questioning, “You love her don’t you?” He wasn’t yelling, but it was direct. Still, it came out more hurt than he had intended.

  
“What? Jesse, what’re you talking-“ Beca started to come back, confused about it and Jesse stuttered because he wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth.   
“Ch-Chloe.” He spoke louder to compensate for the stutter, “You love her, don’t you?” 

  
Beca cocked an eyebrow at him, but he could see the falter in her appearance. It was as if she had never even thought about the way she looked at Chloe - as if she had never known that her feelings could be summarized into the word love. She licked her lips, “Jesse, I think you’ve had a bit too much-“ She reached for his wrist and he ripped it away from her.  
  
“No.” He waved his arms, “No. Don’t you dare do that to me! That’s the reason isn’t it? The reason you don’t want to move in together? The reason you aren’t ‘ready’ to move forward?” He shook his head and Beca didn’t respond right away, “It’s the reason you flinch every time I even mention the work marriage.” He was breathing out air bubbles of smoke pushing heat out into the 20 degrees. Beca covered herself in her long coat and crossed her arms, “You love her, Don’t you? You know. It’s starting to make sense now. The way I felt like I was sharing you with someone else. The way it felt like you were never letting me in. I tried to tell myself it was because you were best friends, can you believe that? That you were just, really close. That Chloe was just a physical person. That you were needed with the Bellas, that you wanted to make it on your own in New York before you moved in with me. I made up excuses for you.” He was near full volume in his voice and he could see the look of pity in her eyes, confirming everything he felt. They were quiet and he shook his head, stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets and looked at the street. When he looked back at her, he squeezed his eyes shut, and tried to lower his voice. “I can’t even blame you, though.” He practically mumbled, “You didn’t ask to be in love with her. The worst part is that I feel bad for you. For the way that you look at her, grinding on another guy. I feel bad because that’s how I feel.” 

  
Beca shook her head, still conflicted in the words that he was spitting off to her. Finally, she opened her mouth to speak, “Jesse, I-“

  
Before she could though, Chloe was running up the stairs and bouncing in her bubbly manner, “Becs? Hey, what’re you guys-“ She stopped when she seemed to sense all of the tension. The way they were feet apart from each other. The look of disgust Jesse couldn’t help having when he looked between them. He looked at the way Chloe stepped in front of Beca, as if she was a silent protector for whatever mayhem she had caused - little did she know that she was already between them, the curse keeping them apart. Jesse only scoffed and Beca was entirely silent, staring at the ground in front of her, “Is everything…” Chloe began, looking over at Beca first. 

  
Beca smacked her lips together and looked over at Jesse. Jesse shook his head, “I guess, I’ll see you around, Beca.” Beca didn’t respond and Jesse turned on his heels. He didn’t look back. He didn’t linger in the way he walked. He turned the corner as soon as he made it down the block. 

  
As soon as he was gone, Chloe whipped around and furrowed her brow at her best friend, “What just happened?”


	7. Hospital Drive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beca gets an unexpected call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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Beca couldn’t keep the tears out from blurring her vision as she drove. She couldn’t stop them from falling and the rain pounding on the windshield didn’t help. She was trying her best to focus on everything but as she drove to the hospital, she couldn’t help her mind wrapping around the worst possible outcome. Her heart was throbbing in her chest, pain and fear making it worse. She was blowing stop signs, slamming on her breaks at red lights, and speeding every moment she wasn’t stopped. She was replaying the words of a voicemail over and over in her head. She was in the recording studio doing work when she got the call,  just finishing up with a client. She had rejected the call, only to listen to the voicemail a few moments later, “Hello, this is Doctor Lewis with Huntington Memorial Hospital. I am calling for Beca Mitchell because she is listed on the emergency contacts for Chloe Beale? I am afraid there has been an accident...” Her throat was dry just thinking about it. 

The drive felt longer than it really was, despite Beca doing everything she possibly could to get there fast. She was sweating in the eighty-degree air, her skin sticking to the leather of her Jeep. She could vaguely hear cars beeping at her and she could see the blurred outline from strangers flipping her off. She was being reckless and she knew it, but she couldn’t help it. Chloe had been in an accident.  _ Something had happened to Chloe.  _ That’s all she could think of over and over in her mind. It was all that mattered. So she sped down the roads in the fastest way she knew how to get to the hospital.

When she got there, she threw the door open and nearly tripped on her way to the front desk. Her words were just as frantic as her mind was. She was stuttering and she couldn’t help thinking that the lady behind the desk probably hated her. She wasn’t even sure she was in the right section or spot and she wasn’t even sure she cared. She bit her lip after she finally got a real sentence out, “I’m looking for Chloe Beale. They said something happened,” Her heart was pounding. 

She had to wait the longest seven minutes of her life before someone offered to walk her back to the correct area to talk to Chloe’s doctor. She didn’t know who they were, despite being extra grateful for them. All she knew was that they were in scrubs and that at the end of the seventh hallway they walked down was another counter with another receptionist who checked her in. They told her a doctor would be out to speak with her soon and her hands were shaking. She got out her phone to call someone, but she could hardly hold it steady, nor think of who she could call. Luckily when she looked up, another familiar frantic girl was approaching her, eyes wide in fear.

“Beca,” Aubrey huffed. Beca could see the mirror of her panic in Aubrey’s eyes, “Did they tell you- Do you know-” She couldn’t make out the question and all Beca could get herself to do was shake her head no as she wiped tears off her cheeks.

A few feet behind Aubrey, Beca could see Stacie walking in the lobby with two bags in her hands, “Brey, your bag,” Stacie had mumbled, out of breath from following the blonde in. 

Beca brushed herself off and buttoned her black blazer with shaking hands. She was uncomfortable and unable to focus on anything solid, “They said her doctor would be out.” Beca finally got out as Stacie handed Aubrey her bag.

“Ms. Mitchell?” Another member of the hospital, dressed in dark blue scrubs from head to toe, approached behind them. 

“Yes!” The sound that came out of her throat was way louder than she had intended. She took a breath then and calm herself, “Yes, that’s me.” 

“Ms. Mitchell, I’m Chloe Beale’s doctor and you all are?” The doctor asked, motioning to the other two girls standing there.

“Her best friends,” Aubrey confirmed, “Her parents live in Colorado and I can call them when we know more, but we’re the closest-” 

“Alright,” The doctor put an arm on Aubrey’s shoulder to calm her down, “Has anyone informed you all what happened?” Beca shook her head and he went on, “Earlier this evening Chloe came into the Emergency room in an ambulance. She had been hit by a car. She needed surgery. She’s in recovery now but...” The rest was incoherent to Beca’s ears. In some ways, she could breathe again knowing that Chloe was in recovery.  _ That means she would recover right _ ?

“I can only take one person back with me…” Beca could hardly focus on the conversation before she realized the three of them agreed that Beca should be the one to go, “Follow me.” 

Beca followed him and spend the first few feet down the hallway looking back at Aubrey and Stacy, who nodded at her in a way to silently tell her it would be alright. Beca gulped and turned back to the doctor, but he had been talking since they started walking and she didn’t know what he said. When he paused, she said, “I’m sorry, I’m just having trouble-” She started and her hands were fidgeting and she forgot the rest of what she had to say. After a long silence, she remembered and added, “Trouble focusing.”

“That’s okay,” The brown haired doctor put a hand on her shoulder and rubbed it comfortingly, “All I said is that she hasn’t woken up yet. We’re confident that she will in time, but her injuries were severe…” Again Beca felt like she was suffocating. Like all of the breath she had was gone in an instance. He was telling her that there was a chance Chloe  _ wouldn’t wake up?  _ It wasn’t possible.

Beca cringed at the thought and her mind went to everything her and Chloe had been through together. All but six years amazing years together. From meeting at Barden her freshman year to doing the USO tour together, Chloe was the only reason Beca was where she was. Without the Bellas, she wouldn’t have gotten her first internship or gone in the USO tour at all and without the USO tour, she wouldn’t have gotten as far as she had. She wouldn’t have toured with DJ Khaled and she wouldn’t have the opportunity to open her own recording studio. Chloe did all of that for her by walking in on her shower, but more than that Chloe stuck by her. Thick and thin, Chloe knew Beca had talent and supported her dreams. Chloe was her best friend, but Beca hadn’t been the best friend she could’ve over the last year.

After the USO tour, Beca’s carear blew up. She did gig after gig, released her first album, and worked on her first album with a recording artist. She was busy. She didn’t exactly have time to meet up at the bar after work and Chloe was busy too with vet school and her first job at the vet hospital in LA. They were busy. After the USO tour, they weren’t living together anymore and Chloe was dating Chicago long distance. Chloe moved out to move closer to her job downtown and Beca and Amy got a bigger apartment by the recording studio. Beca still sent tickets to all of the Bellas herself, to every show she was invited to. Backstage passes, openings to films, all of the different award shows. To be fair, very few of the Bellas ever showed up to them. They were still a family, but in a long distance sort of way. Now, her mind remembering every moment, she can’t remember the last time she saw Chloe at all. Vibrant, amazing, beautiful Chloe Beale.

They were in the maze again and the only direction Beca can remember back to the lobby is to take the elevator down. She hates the way the hospital smells. Clean and full of disinfectants. She’s never been the hospital type. Chloe had to drag her to the doctors when she was sick at Barden or she wouldn’t go at all. After everything and that lack of being there for Beca, she couldn't help but wonder why Chloe put Beca as an emergency contact. Aubrey? Yeah she can see that. They’ve been best friends for years and they just got lunch last week - Beca had seen it on Chloe’s Instagram. Aubrey would be her emergency contact and she could call her parents. Beca didn’t even have a number for Chloe’s parents. She’d hardly met them when they graduated. Them and Chloe’s four brothers, who Beca could only assume would be taking their own flight out to visit as well. 

Finally, they turned the corner into Chloe’s room. A single room where Chloe lay, undisturbed. She was only sleeping after all, with a tube in her mouth. She had an IV hooked up to her arm and she looked paler than normal. Her skin only made her red hair more vibrant and beautiful thought and Beca doesn’t think anyone else can make a hospital gown look that good. Out of the window, Beca can see the entire LA skyline filled with stars and lights below them. Though, she can hardly focus on the view when she’s staring at Chloe. Poor, Chloe. From the little Beca could see, she had a black eye and a gash on her forehead. Her arms were peppered with light bruising and Beca could only guess what other wounds she might have from surgery. Though they were all hidden under Chloe’s blanket. Beca didn’t hear the doctor when he said he would leave her to it and she barely noticed he was gone. She only stood in the doorway, tears threatening to spill over her eyelids again. She wiped them clean and took a shaky breath in. 

“Oh, Chloe.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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	8. Hospital Drive pt 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twenty-four hours after Beca gets a call from the hospital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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“Oh, Chloe.” Beca walked into the room slowly, her heels clicking against the tile floor. Now being alone she let the tears slip down her cheeks, causing her face to puff. She was lucky she hadn’t worn makeup. She looked around at the busy hallway behind her and then back at Chloe. Overall, Beca felt awkward. She didn’t know what to do. Her best friend was unconscious and Beca didn’t know if she was going to wake up. What was she supposed to do? What was the correct response to news like that? She couldn’t stop crying, that was for sure.

Letting the door close behind her, she sat down in a chair next to Chloe and watched her. She watched her breathing in and out and Beca picked up the rhythm to steady her own breathing. She looked down and saw Chloe’s hand then, covered a bruise that spread out from her wrist. Beca looked around, as if to figure out if anyone was going to come back, then put her hand on top of Chloe’s and held it. She looked back at Chloe’s face with the black eye and gash on her forehead. She felt stupid talking, but if Chloe could hear her, she wasn’t going to miss the opportunity, “Hey Chlo,” She mumbled and tried to think about what to say, “I, uh, I’ve missed you, Chlo.”

She cleared her throat and tried not to cry. Chloe didn’t move like patients did in the movies. She didn’t wake up suddenly or move her fingers to hold Beca’s hand. She was still asleep and Beca’s hands were shaking, “It’s stupid, I can’t remember the last time I saw you in person.” She wiped the tears from her face, “I’m sorry for that. I didn’t realize that it had been so long.” It was a long pause before she was talked again. She grunted a laugh in between tears as she said, “Chlo, I don’t know why you made me your emergency contact, I-“ the words caught in her throat, “Chloe, I don’t feel like I deserve it.” 

She thought about it more when she said that. The reason why she had been such a horrible friend. The real reason that she hadn’t seen Chloe in weeks. Not because Chloe didn’t come to her after parties or because they were actually busy. She knew that was no excuse. There was a reason and it was a reason that made Beca’s throat dry just thinking about it. It was the reason everyone was willing to let her be the first one to see Chloe. The reason everyone knew Beca hadn’t seen Chloe in weeks. It was the reason for everything. Beca was in love with Chloe.

She had been for a few years now. She realized it not long after worlds and broke it off with Jesse. She had been trying to figure out a way to tell Chloe all the way through the USO tour. All the way up until Chloe kissed Chicago. Beca has been repairing her heart ever since and part of that pushed Chloe away. She had ignored her friends when they told her not to push Chloe away. The majority of the Bellas knew about What happened and they were all sensitive with her. But now Beca felt stupid. But how could she have known this would happen? 

Over the next twenty-four hours, Beca didn’t leave Chloe’s hospital room. Hour after hour she held Chloe’s hand and talked to her about everything she could think of. In between their talks, the Bella’s visited individually. First Aubrey and Stacie, then Emily, then Jessica and Ashley, and finally, always the late one, Amy. Aubrey kept Beca informed on Chloe’s family from when they had taken off to when they had landed. Beca in the meantime lies to the recording studio about a sick family member in the hospital. The doctor got someone to bring in a cot for her to sleep on, though she didn’t sleep at all. Emily brought her her laptop and breakfast in the morning when she came to visit. Aubrey and Stacie brought over lunch when they got a break from work. 

Beca only left the room again when Chloe’s family arrived and she met them down in the lobby. she recognized her mother from the bright red hair that Chloe must’ve gotten passed down to her. Her father was standing next to her mother and behind them were her four brothers. Beca could’ve only assumed that they all came. They were the family type. Which made sense with how Chloe’s mother had brought flowers with her in a vase and everything. Beca couldn’t help but be amused at how they would brighten the dark hospital room.

“Beca,” Chloe’s mother called and Beca was surprised that after only meeting her once, Chloe’s mom could pick her out in a crowd. Beca approached them quietly, her face warning them of what was ahead. Before Beca could protest though, Chloe’s mom reaches out her hands and pulled her into a bear hug. Beca wanted to protest the way she did when anyone tried to hug her, but the way she did it so simply, pushing back her barriers made Beca’s heart skip a beat. It was exactly like Chloe did. 

Beca pointed them in the right direction and Chloe’s brothers patted her on the back as they each passed her. In one way, it made Beca feel like part of the family, despite the lack of red hair. She wished she could get to know them and not have to meet them under such horrible circumstances. She imagined their home in Colorado to be a big house full of people, coming and going when they wanted. She imagined that they had family dinners and a big Christmas tree around the holidays. That was the kind of family Chloe grew up in and Beca wanted more than anything to be a part of that. 

“Honey, have you eaten?” It was the first question Chloe’s mother asked when they walked into the room, placing the flowers on the nightstand next to Chloe. She had been staring at the take out boxes sitting on Beca’s cot. The ones that were still full of whatever food her friends had bought her.

“I...” Beca started, but she didn’t have an excuse. She hadn’t been eating. She couldn’t eat. How could she eat when Chloe was-

“Boys, take this young girl out to eat. She needs food in that stomach.” She didn’t miss a beat in saying it and Beca only scratched the back of her head.

“Mrs. Beale-“ 

“Oh please call me, Kathy.” 

“Okay, uh, Kathy, I appreciate your concern but-“ Beca stopped when Chloe’s mom turned and looked at her. She had cerulean eyes. The same cerulean eyes that Chloe had when Beca sick. The same cerulean eyes that begged her to go to the doctors and brought her coffee the morning after she’d drank her weight in alcohol. Before she knew it, she was stuttering trying to get out the rest of her sentence, “I’m, uh, I’m really fine.” 

The Beale family passed looks around the room and Beca all of a sudden felt left out of the conversation. The eldest brother, whom Beca can remember is Eric, nodded to Kathy. He and the second brother, Jaymie were the two with dark brown hair like their father. The two youngest brothers, who were each in high school, had the same red hair as Chloe and seemed to be just as clueless as Beca. Beca felt bad that she couldn’t remember which was Jake and which was Oliver. They looked like could be twins they were so close in age. Than Mrs. Beale walked over to Beca and took up her hands. Beca was nervous about the way she looked into her eyes, “Beca, we can watch her for a while, okay? You can’t keep up your strength if you don’t eat. We will call you if anything happens at all and you’ll be right back. Go get some fresh air.”

Beca swallowed and nearly burst into tears right there. How could this woman tell that she was so close to breaking down? How did she know without looking in the bags that Beca hadn’t eaten? Was it written on her face? In the cursive black bruising beneath her eyes? Was her face still red from the last time she had cried? “But Ma, I don’t want to eat. I wanna stay here with Chlo-” One of the two younger boys started his protest and Beca felt a ping of guilt from taking them away.

“Oliver, you need to eat and I don’t want to hear it later when-” His mother started on him in a lecturing voice that reminded Beca of her father. 

“I’ll take her, Ma.” Eric said, scratching the back of her head,  “They can stay. I’ll take her.” 

Mrs. Beales lecture broke into a small, thankful smile, “Thank you, Eric.” Then she rushed them out the door.

Beca hardly remembers walking out of the hospital because it’s so quiet. She tried to remember what little she knew about Eric Beale. He was one of Chloe’s two older brothers. He had graduated from some college Beca couldn’t remember, but he never left Colorado. He had a degree in business, but he didn’t look like much of a business guy. Though, to be honest everyone just looked like a wreck right now. His hair was greasy and it looked like he hadn’t gotten to shower since he found out about Chloe’s condition. He too had bags under his eyes and puffy red cheeks. He had darker blue eyes that Beca could only gather matched their fathers. She tried to look when he was in her peripheral so it didn’t look like she was staring at him. They took the rental car the family had used to get to the hospital and when to a small diner around the corner from the hospital. The first thing they both ordered was coffee.

“It’s weird you know,” He said between sips of coffee, “I mean, I remember you from Chloe’s graduation and I’ve heard so many stories, but I didn’t think I’d be taking you out to lunch,” He sighed and laughed to himself, “The Beca Mitchell.”

“Oh God,” Beca laughed nervously and bit her lip, “Do I even want to know which stories?” 

Eric grinned from ear to ear and looked out the window at the blue skyline. Beca had to admit, fresh air was much better than stale hospital air. “Are you kidding? He said, “You’re like a legend in the Beale house.”

“I hope that’s a good thing,” Beca tucked her hair behind her ears, unsure of how to react to the stranger she was eating with. She wasn’t this type of person. Going to lunch with strangers. Occasionally for work, yes, but otherwise, Beca was a socially awkward person. She avoided contact with people unless she had to do it herself. She wanted to avoid this exact situation. She didn’t know what to do with her hands other than drink coffee, which made her coffee go too soon too fast.

Eric went back to silence for a minute, then said, “Are you ever going to tell her?”

Beca looked up and once again she was caught in prolonged eye contact, “Tell who what?” 

“Tell Chloe…” His eyes darted across the table as she decided whether it was a good idea to continue the sentence, “Are you ever going to tell her you’re in love with her?” 

Beca took a sharp breath in at the words being said out loud, “I-” She stuttered, “I don’t know.” 

“I wish she could see this,” Eric told as he dug into the food placed in front of him, “I wish she could see you like this. Maybe its a little, morbid, but,” He was talking between bites, “God if anyone didn’t know you were in love with her, they do now.”

Beca tried to think of something else to say - a response that fought with him. She wished she could say that she wasn’t in love with Chloe. That he was wrong. That it’s not like that. That he could stop being so arrogant over it. But she couldn’t. He was right. Beca took a few bites of her food and let them fall back to a comfortable silence. Comfortable silence that lasted until Eric's phone rang.  “Hello?” Beca looked up and watched as he made eye contact with her, “Alright, we’ll be right there.” Beca was out of the booth before he hung up.

He didn’t need to say it, but he did anyway, “She’s awake.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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	9. Hospital Drive pt 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on Tumblr @ezrajclarke. Please Review, [Support My Writing Here](https://ko-fi.com/ezrajclarke)

Beca Mitchell was pacing. She was pacing back and forth in the hospital lobby and she was pretty sure she was well on her way to making a mote. The doctors wouldn’t let her in. There were “too many people” in there already and she was about ready to kill someone. Though, she tried to keep herself calm. They were doing an examination and even though Beca hadn’t gotten to see Chloe yet, she was okay. Beca tried to convince herself that that was enough. That Chloe being alright and  _ awake  _ was enough for her. She didn’t need to see her in person. She didn’t need to talk to her and see it with her own two eyes. She didn’t need to know that -

“Beca?” Beca whipped her entire body around at Mrs. Beale’s call. Mrs. Beale was standing with the rest of her family behind her and Beca couldn’t help but wonder how long they had been standing there without her noticing. 

“Hey, is she alright?” Beca couldn’t help herself. She couldn’t make small talk right now. She couldn’t think clearly enough. She was freaking out. Her hands were shaking and she couldn’t stand still. Her stomach was doing flips. 

“Why don’t you go see for yourself?” Mrs. Beale smile at her and Beca had to convince herself not to dash passed the whole family at the chance. Instead, she took a deep breath and nodded. Mrs. Beale approached her and took both of Beca’s hands in her own, “We’re going to grab Chloe some things from her apartment. I trust you can keep an eye on our girl?” Mrs. Beale was making direct eye contact with Beca, but Beca couldn’t help but glance at Eric. Eric raised an eyebrow at her and Beca was more than confused. Was this Mrs. Beales way of saying she knew? Did Eric tell her Beca was in love with Chloe? Did he even need to?

Realizing that she was taking way too long to answer, she looked back at Mrs. Beale and nodded, “Of course,” She surprised herself with how sure she sounded. 

“Good girl,” Mrs. Beale told her and the family all passed her to leave the hospital. 

Beca was running through the maze that in twenty-four hours she had memorized before she could think twice about it. Right, left, right, up the elevator, and down another long hallway. She could feel how sore her body was as she did so, the lack of sleep hit her hard. But she kept running. Running so fast that by the time she made it to the hotel room, she couldn’t stop. Her heels dug into the floor and she nearly ran into the door frame. Such a commotion caused Chloe Beale -  _ a very awake Chloe Beale - _ to look up at the door. To look up at a very tired, very rushed, very out of breath Beca Mitchell. Beca was breathing so hard she could hardly assemble any kind of words to say. She didn’t know what to say. Then she looked at Chloe. 

Chloe Beale. Beautiful, amazing Chloe Beale. Fire red hair, big cereulean eyes Chloe Beale. If Beca’s lungs hadn’t already been at a loss for breath, the sight of Chloe Beale in front of her, staring at her, would’ve done it. The girl was drop-dead gorgeous to Beca. And flawless. Even in a hospital gown with bruises covering her body, Beca couldn’t think of anyone more beautiful. And all of a sudden, Beca couldn’t think. She couldn’t think of anything to say. She couldn’t think to move out of the doorway or to stop breathing so heavy. She was frozen in time and there was Chloe Beale, patiently waiting for her. 

“Hi,” It came out more breathy than Beca had intended. In all honesty, she wasn’t sure what she was intending it to come out like. Maybe she thought it would come out more confident and beautiful like biker guys made it sound like in the movies. But it didn’t. It was filled with air as she was in the midst of breathing out when she said it.

Chloe giggled and Beca couldn’t help but think about how she’d never been happier to hear Chloe laughing at her, “Well, hi,” Chloe’s smile was bigger and more beautiful than anything she had ever seen in her life. A big white smiles and absolutely adorable dimples, “That was quite the entrance.” 

Beca realized at that moment that Chloe didn’t know. She didn’t know that Beca had spent the entire night in the hospital. That over twenty-four hours, Chloe had given her the scare of a life time. Chloe probably didn’t even remember going to the hospital at all. This was probably the first time she was feeling what happened to her and the first time she knew that everyone was worried about her. She didn’t know that Beca hadn’t been able to breath in longer than a day. That she couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat. She didn’t know that Beca hadn’t been to work since she got the emergency contact call. The last twenty-four hours to Chloe were non-existent. 

“I, uh,” Beca laughed and leaned against the doorframe, trying to play it cool, “Yeah.” Their eyes met and they were quiet for the moment. Their eyes met and they were staring and it was like the entire world stopped. Just for a second. When Beca realized this, she cleared her throat, “How’re you feeling?” 

Chloe only smiled the way she always did when she was sick back in college and said the usual catchphrase, “I’m fine, Becs, really.” 

Beca only shook her head and walked into the room finally, closing the door behind her. She sat beside Chloe’s bed and leaned against the bed, her eyes never leaving the ginger in front of her, “You don’t have to lie to me.” It was hardly above a whisper. Chloe watched her intently and Beca took this as a chance to continued, “You gave us quite the scare, Chlo. I’m so glad you’re okay.” 

Internally, Beca was screaming. She didn’t want to say what she was saying. She wanted to say more.  _ Chloe, you scared me half to death. Chloe, I don’t know what I would do without you. Chloe, why am I on your emergency contacts? Why chose me? Chloe, I’m so sorry I haven’t seen you in weeks. Chloe, I’ve missed you so much. Chloe, I’m fucking in love with you. Don’t ever scare me like that again.  _

“My parents told me you’ve been here all night.” Beca felt a ping in her chest at Chloe’s words. 

_ Of course, I have,  _ She thought, but only said, “I didn’t want you to wake up alone.” She said, her eyes never leaving Chloe’s.

“You didn’t have to do that, Becs. You should go home, get some rest. Eat something.” Beca could really see the resemblance between Chloe and her mom. 

Beca only chuckled, “Your mom and Eric made me go out to lunch with Eric. Besides, I want to stay with you.” Beca put her hand over Chloe’s, gently enough not hurt her. Beca looked back into Chloe’s eyes and once again they were in a long silence just looking at each other, “Chlo…” 

“Becs?”

Beca’s throat’s all of a sudden dry. She can’t force anything out of it. Her words get caught in her throat with Chloe staring at her so intently. It’s like she can’t function when those eyes are staring at her. It’s impossible. “I should give Aubrey a call.” When she gets up she thinks she can feel Chloe’s hand try to hold her in place, but it’s so subtle that Beca can’t tell for sure. 

She pulls out her phone and heads for the door because she’s already terrible enough at talking to people on the phone and more so, she needs an excuse to be able to breathe again. So she walks out and she can feel the pressure on her shoulders with every step she takes. With every step she takes, it builds and she knows it’s because of the last twenty for hours. It’s the way she dropped everything to run to Chloe’s side. The way she was speeding from the recording studio to the hospital. The way she couldn’t think or even hear the doctor talk to her. The way Aubrey and Stacie both agreed that she should be the one to see Chloe. The way Chloe’s family looked at her like they knew everything and how everyone she knew wanted her to eat because  _ everyone knew she hadn’t. _ It’s the way she ran to hospital from the diner and the way she paced in the lobby. It’s the way Eric asked  _ Are you ever going to tell her you’re in love with her?  _ If there was any time in the world, this was it. 

She put her phone down then and slipped it into her pocket. There was a time that she thought this would pass. That she thought she could get over Chloe by going to every club in Los Angeles. When she thought she could get over Chloe by getting under a stranger. When she thought she could get over Chloe by indulging in her work and pushing Chloe away. When she thought that she wouldn’t be so wrapped around Chloe’s every beck and call. There was a time when she thought that eventually, they could just be best friends. And she hated herself for not being able to do that because the second she said the words, there was no going back. It would change their relationship forever and ever since Chloe had kissed Chicago, Beca would rather push her away than tell her the truth. 

“Beca?” Beca looked down at her phone and realized that Aubrey was on the other end of it, calling her name. She hadn’t even remembered trying to call her, but if she was being honest, the past twenty-four hours were a blur to her.

“Hey, Aubrey.” She cleared her throat.

“Beca?” Aubrey had the all-knowing tone that reminded Beca of a mother’s voice. Beca had resented her for it freshman year, but Aubrey had grown to know Beca’s voice all too well, “What’s wrong?” 

Beca shook her head and brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear as she paced, “Uh, nothing. She’s awake - actually.” Beca’s voice is monotone. She’s happy. She’s really fucking happy. But it’s complicated.

“Beca, that’s great to hear,” Aubrey said as if she was trying to reassure Beca that this  _ was  _ great news, “What’s wrong?” 

Beca took long deep breaths in, “Is there ever going to be a time that I don’t feel like this?” She asks it and she feels so stupid for asking, but she can’t help it. Her chest physically hurts. It  _ hurts. _

The other end of the line is silent for a moment before it replies with everything Beca knows to be true, “You could tell her.” 

She hangs up the phone rather than thinking of a response. She nearly breaks down and hates how easily words like that could do her in. Her ears are ringing. Her chest is heavy. Her hand begins to shake and she can’t do it anymore. She just  _ can’t.  _ She tries to pull herself together as she wipes the tears from her eyes and takes one more deep breath. Her legs are carrying her back to the room and she just  _ can’t  _ think anymore. It’s all too much and it feels like nothing will ever fix it without ruining everything first. So she turns the corner to the room and Chloe looks up when she enters the room again and she doesn’t know what she’s saying before it’s too late to take it back.

“I’m in love with you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so terribly sorry. I did not expect this to be more than three parts!! Stay tuned for more. Follow me on Tumblr @ezrajclarke. Please Review, [Support My Writing Here](https://ko-fi.com/ezrajclarke)


	10. Hospital Drive pt 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last part! Promise! Hope you guys like it. I’m opening this open for prompts if you have one please leave a comment! Please review! 
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“I'm in love with you.” 

Beca wasn’t thinking about what the words meant when they were coming out of her mouth. She wasn’t thinking about whether Chloe was still dating whatever his name was or whether she vaguely remembered Aubrey talking about them break it off or if that was just a dream. She wasn’t thinking about how Chloe was the popular girl of her high school and how Beca had always been the outcast. No, she wasn’t thinking about the way Chloe and she might not have even been friends in high school or the fact that Beca was too alternative for the bubbly redhead. She didn’t have a single thought about how Chloe was lying in a hospital bed and how selfish it was to declare her feelings when Chloe was in such a fragile state. It was selfish, really. She wasn’t even sure that she was telling Chloe so that Chloe could  _ know  _ or so that she could get out of the endless cycle she had been trapped in since she found out she had these feelings. She hated her self for that answer most likely being the latter. Chloe deserved better. 

What Beca  _ was  _ thinking about, on the other hand, was that this was it. Chloe could tell her that she had the wrong idea and this could  _ finally  _ be over. All of it. The way her stomach flipped when anyone told her that Chloe had talked about her. The way she would do anything to get Chloe’s attention - for Chloe to  _ notice  _ her. Chloe could tell her here and now that it was over and though she knew it would come with a heartbreak, at least it would come with the relief of never having to get her hopes up again. She’d never have to feel the swell of her stomach and the rollercoaster feeling she was feeling right now. She could get rid of the hope that Chloe would return her feelings. It would be over. Beca wasn’t sure if having the heartbreak all the time was better, but anything had to be better then going back and forth. 

But as soon as the words came out of her mouth, all of those thoughts and  _ not thoughts  _ came to an end. There they were. She could hardly believe that it was her own voice that had said them. It sounds like an impossibility minutes before when she was on the phone with Aubrey. And as soon as they came out of her mouth, they were just hanging there - in the cold, stale air of the hospital room. They felt like so much and yet not enough. They didn’t describe how she felt. So few words could never describe the way Chloe made her feel. Beca had always been bad at that. Well, bad at both. _ Feelings  _ and _ Words _ . The whole thing made her feel inept. What was she even doing here? Who told her this would be a good idea? 

“I mean,” She cleared her throat as Chloe’s cerulean eyes burned a hole through her. Beca couldn’t tell what they were saying and she hated it. It was a look of shock and surprise and Beca could only guess that Chloe had never even thought about the possibility of _ them. _ Beca wished she could back out now and rewind her life the way they did on television. Then again, if this was on television then maybe - just maybe - Chloe would return her feelings. She could feel her chest start to rise and fall, it was getting faster with each moment Chloe stared. Her eyebrows rose and Beca remembered that she was in midsentence, “I’m in love with you, Chlo. I don’t even know for how long, I just,” She took a step in and let the door close behind her. Her mouth was dry, “I’ve never known how to say it and maybe I knew how I felt without the words to say it and then there was that boy at the USO and-” She was having trouble putting it all together.  _ Do they plan it all out in the movies or does all that just come out?  _ The thoughts were piling up and Chloe was hardly blinking - just staring. 

“This was a stupid idea.” Beca was giving into her anxiety all of a sudden and despite her best intentions, she could feel her body moving against her. She was trapped in her mind as her body turned on its heels and went for the door.

“Becs, wait.” Beca had almost forgotten that Chloe had a voice too. A lovely voice at that. Beca had always thought so and near a million times asked Chloe to come down to the studio to record. Beca’s hadn't was on the cold metal of the door when she looked up and over at Chloe. 

The brunette turned around and wiped the tears away in a way to tell herself  _ Stop crying, you’re being stupid. _ She could feel it in her chest. It was tight and hard to breath and Beca is sure she’s  _ never  _ felt this many emotions before, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be-” She gulped, “This is so stupid.” _ She’s never felt so stupid.  _ Again, she goes for the door.

“Beca Fucking Mitchell.” It’s not often Beca hears Chloe cuss so when she does it makes her quite literally freeze. Her heartbeat might as well be pumped through a speaker it’s so loud in her ears. Now the tears are dry on her face and she can feel them in the cool air. She turns around and now she’s never been more vulnerable in her life. Her eyes full of tears, Chloe’s eyes watching her.  _ This is so stupid.  _ Chloe raises an eyebrow and says, “Come here.” When Beca hesitates she continues, “Becs don’t make me get out of this bed and come get you.”

Beca takes the few steps further and sits down next to Chloe, her eyes wide and her hands shaking. She sat next to Chloe and the redhead hardly wasted a second. She immediately put her hands on both of Beca’s cheeks, wiping away her tears. Now, Beca’s sure that  _ this  _ is the most vulnerable she’s ever been. Chloe smiles the same smile Beca knows all too well. The same smile Chloe gave her in the shower, at auditions, and over and over in the years since. Chloe laughed just a little beneath her breath and looked Beca in the eyes when she said, “Beca,” She took a deep breath that made Beca wondered if this was Chloe vulnerable, “Beca,” Her voice was more confident this time, “I’m in love with you.” She finally said it and Beca felt like she couldn’t breathe. 

It didn’t feel real. Like she had imagined the entire moment. She shook her head and dented her eyebrows, “I’m sorry?” She asked it and Chloe could tell that she needed the confirmation. 

“I’m in love with you, Beca Mitchell.” She said it again, her smile never leaving her lips. She giggled when Beca finally smiled. It was a genuine Beca smile. Chloe didn’t often see it. It was rare and all the more beautiful. It was full with her top and bottom teeth, all white, and Chloe would never get over the brunettes dimples. Beca was still speechless, “I’m in love with you too. I am. I’m in love with you.” 

Beca couldn’t believe it. She repeated it in her head over and over again.  _ Chloe Beale loved her too. _ She hardly had any control over her motions when she leaned in. Chloe immediately responded and it was nothing like the movie that Beca had been picturing in her head. It was a million times better. Chloe’s lips were at first a soft brush against hers. A soft peck that left them both wishing for much more. With her eyes closed, Beca could feel Chloe’s arms wrap around her neck and held her in place. She leaned in again and this time the kiss was greedy and wanting. Beca’s lips melted against Chloe’s and it all felt like a dream. It was better than any kiss either girl had ever experienced in their lives. There were no longer thoughts and  _ not thoughts.  _ All of Beca’s thoughts had been obliterated. Beca couldn’t pull away even though there were a million unanswered questions. The kiss didn’t end until Chloe eventually and finally pulled away.

“Wow.” Beca breathed.

Chloe swallowed, her eyes looking back and forth between Beca’s as if to look for any regrets, “Yeah,” She tried to catch her breath, “Wow.” 

Beca cleared her throat, their foreheads still touching, “Does this mean…” 

Chloe only laughed, her eyes seeing the nervousness in Beca’s asking, “Becs, I’m yours. I’ve been yours from the day we met. I’m in love with you. This is real.” 

Beca could only smile and lean in again, she was already addicted to the way Chloe’s lips felt against her own. She would never get tired of this and this was better than her wildest dreams had been. She was ashamed of how long it had taken her to admit her feelings, but she had never been happier that she did. She never wanted her lips to leave Chloe’s. She’d rather suffocate than break it. Still, the sound of Mrs. Daniels clearing her throat broke their kiss and almost immediately Beca jumped two feet back. 

“Well, glad to see Beca has done such a good job of taking care of my girl.” She smirked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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